Malice
by Neemps
Summary: DeSoto and Gage pass out in the squad after being drugged.


Malice

By Neemps

Disclaimer: All rights to Universal and Mark VII

Beta: Kelmin (thanks!)

Roy and John walked up to the base station at Rampart Emergency after bringing in a patient, and noticed that there were two detectives and a Sheriff's Deputy questioning Dixie and Mike Morton. They stood back for a moment, giving each other a questioning look, but shortly the cops left, and the guys walked up to Dixie.

"What's going on?" Johnny asked.

"Someone was poisoned here in Emergency, deliberately," Dixie said, her eyes flashing a mixture of anger and fear.

"Attempted murder," Morton added. "Found a nurse slumped over in the lounge. She'll be okay though."

"Who was it?" Johnny was concerned it might be someone he knew, had dated, or wanted to date.

"Rosella Isenberg." Dixie said.

"Hmmm. Don't know her. Sorry to hear about it though," said Johnny.

"Do the police have any leads?" Roy asked.

"Not yet. They're still gathering evidence and interviewing people. This just happened a little while ago."

Johnny stepped over to the coffee pot. "Roy? You want some?"

"Sure, thanks."

They sipped their coffee while Dixie answered a phone call. Morton stepped away. Roy watched as one of the detectives interviewed Dr. Brackett down the hall. Various staff members were all talking about what had happened. He noticed that the lounge door had been taped off.

The two paramedics finished their coffee, waved bye to Dixie and headed out to the squad.

As they drove back to the station, Johnny suddenly felt a strong wave of drowsiness hit him.

"Whoa…" he said, putting a hand to his forehead.

"What's the matter?" Roy asked.

"I just…. got really sleepy all the sudden." Johnny slurred a little bit. Roy figured he had another spell with insomnia. He looked over at Johnny, and saw him slump against the side of the cab.

"Johnny? You okay?" Roy was concerned, but then felt a wave of drowsiness hit him as well.

He pulled up to a red light at an intersection and stopped. Roy couldn't keep his eyes open. He nodded off too, with the engine still running, and his foot still resting on the brake. His head lolled to the left against his door window. His hands slipped off the steering wheel and landed in his lap.

The light changed to green, but the squad just sat there, idling. Cars from behind started honking, but Roy and John did not wake up. The cars eventually drove around them, and went on their way.

The radio beeped and the dispatcher announced a run for them.

"Squad 51. Heart case. 8120 Cloverbrook. 8120 Cloverbrook. Cross street Carson. Time out 1048."

No response. "Squad 51, do you copy?" Pause. "Squad 10 in place of Squad 51. Heart case. 8120 Cloverbrook. 8120 Cloverbrook. Cross street Carson. Time out 1049."

"Squad 10, 10-4,"came the response.

The three beeps sounded again. "Squad 51, what is your status?"

All was quiet, except for an occasional honk from a car coming up behind the squad. Then the handi-talkie beeped. It was sitting on the seat between the sleeping paramedics. "Station 51 to HT 51. What is your status?" Captain Stanley's voice sounded a little annoyed at first, but then concerned. "DeSoto? Gage? Do you copy?"

A few minutes later, a Sheriff's patrol car pulled up behind the squad. Vince Howard got out, and walked up to Roy's window. He looked at Roy and Johnny, and tapped on the window.

"Roy? Johnny? Hey!" Vince shouted.

Receiving no answer, he went back to his car and called in a request for a rescue squad and ambulance.

The dispatcher came over the squad's radio again. "Engine 51, Squad 18. Assist Squad 51 with possible Code I. Intersection of 223rd and Figueroa. 223rd and Figueroa. Time out 11:01."

"Squad 18, 10-4." Bob Bellingham acknowledged.

"Engine 51. KMG365." Hank Stanley acknowledged.

Within a minute, Squad 18 appeared, and the siren for Engine 51 could be heard approaching. Bellingham and Craig Brice walked up to the squad on the driver side, and looked in at Gage and DeSoto.

"They just stopped dead in their tracks. Pretty weird," observed Bob.

"It looks like they've been drugged or something." said Brice. "I'm going to open the door. DeSoto is probably going to fall out, so I'll have to catch him. You'll need to put the parking brake on. Then put the gear shift in Park. It's still in Drive right now, so it might drift forward a bit if his foot comes off the brake."

"Gotcha," said Bob.

Vince directed street traffic away from the lane that Squad 51 was in, keeping cars at a safe distance.

"Here we go," said Brice.

Brice slowly opened the door part way, and sure enough, Roy started to slide out. Brice caught him, but Roy's foot came off the brake, just as Brice thought it might, and the squad started to roll forward into the intersection. Bob opened the door fully, and as both men walked along with the slowly moving vehicle, he reached in with his hand and pushed down on the parking brake. The squad jerked to a stop. The jolting movement caused Johnny to fall over across the seat, on top of the handie-talkie. Bob reached over Brice and Roy to put the gear shift into Park. Then he turned off the ignition and flipped on the squad's red lights.

Brice had hold of Roy under his arms with hands clasped over his chest, and had him half-way out of the squad. The ambulance had not arrived yet, but Engine 51 had, and the guys were ready with blankets. Now that the truck was secure, Brice pulled Roy the rest of the way out of the squad, and Bob grabbed his legs. They carried him over to the treatment area that Chet and Marco had set up. The men laid Roy down on a blanket. Brice started to take Roy's vitals, as Bob went back to the squad. Chet and Marco stood by to assist.

They went over to the right side of the squad, and Bob opened the door. Bob gently lifted Johnny back up to a sitting position. Johnny was completely limp, and didn't make any sound. Bob did a pupil check, got his pulse and respiration. He turned around to Chet.

"Can you grab his legs?" Bob nodded to Chet.

"Sure." Chet said. Bob grabbed Johnny under his arms, locking his hands over Johnny's chest, and pulled him out, while Chet grabbed his legs. They carried him over to the treatment area and laid him down next to Roy. Brice got on the biophone.

"Squad 18 to Rampart Base. How do you read?"

"This is Rampart, go ahead 18," Morton replied.

"We have a Code I-two. Both are unconscious and appear to have been drugged. There are no other apparent injuries. Vitals are as follows..."

At the Rampart Base station, Morton looked at Dixie with alarm. They had heard the dispatcher announce the possible Code I with Squad 51, and now it looked like Gage and DeSoto would be brought in.

"Better go find those two detectives, stat," Morton said. Dixie nodded and rushed off. Morton instructed Brice to start IVs on both men. Then he stared at the coffee maker next to him at the base station.

"10-4 Rampart." Brice hung up the biophone and started preparing an IV for Roy, while Bob did the same for Johnny. Cap, Chet, Marco, Mike and Vince watched helplessly. Soon the ambulance arrived, and Cap directed them where to pull up. The attendants brought over two gurneys, and Roy and Johnny were each lifted onto one.

"Marco, you bring in the squad." Cap ordered. Marco nodded, but Vince stepped up shaking his head.

"Sorry Hank, but we can't release the squad yet. Detectives want to take a look at it first."

"I'll stay with it, Cap. I'll bring it in when they're ready," Marco offered. Cap smiled at him.

"Okay, pal. Thanks."

Brice got into the ambulance with Roy and Johnny, and Bob closed the back doors, and slapped it twice. The ambulance took off. Bob got into Squad 18 and followed. Cap, Chet, Marco and Mike remained to clean up the treatment area, which they did quickly so that they could go check on their friends.

At Rampart, Brice and Bellingham escorted their two patients into Treatment One. Morton, Brackett and Dixie were waiting for them. Brice and Brackett worked on Roy, while Morton and Bellingham saw to Johnny.

"Exactly the same as with Rosella Isenberg." Brackett sighed. "Let's get blood samples to be sure."

"Who is Rosella Isenberg?" Brice asked.

"She's a nurse who works here." Dixie told him. "She was found drugged a little while ago as well."

At the base station, the two detectives were taking the coffee maker into evidence and having the coffee sent up for lab tests. The men from 51's A Shift walked up, hoping to get some news on their shift mates.

"Looks like someone likes to spike your coffee," said Detective Hernandez, a 40ish Hispanic gentleman in a grey business suit. "Apparently Gage and DeSoto were the only ones unfortunate enough to drink from this batch." He looked at Dixie. "How are they doing?"

"They'll survive," Dixie said. "Hopefully any damage will be minimal. We'll try to dilute the poison in their systems and then they'll just sleep it off. We'll keep them here for a while to make sure they're okay."

"Lucky for them they were stopped at a traffic light," said Wilcox, also about 40, with blondish hair and blue eyes. "Could have been much worse if they had been Code R on a response, or even just driving normally."

"Any idea of when they might come out of it?" Captain Stanley asked.

"Well, if it is the same drug as Rosella Isenberg, then they should be waking up in about 3 hours or so," said Dixie. "But, everyone reacts differently, so it's hard to tell. We also don't know how much each of them ingested yet. Time will tell."

"I better go call DeSoto's wife," Cap said.

Four hours later, Joanne DeSoto sat next to her husband in a semi-private room. Roy was in one bed, and Johnny was in the other. A Sheriff's Deputy was standing watch out in the hall, and a nurse had been assigned to monitor both men until they woke up. At the moment, they were still sleeping, but Roy's monitors started beeping faster. Joanne looked at the nurse, who came over and looked at the data displayed on the machines.

"I think he may be starting to wake up. Try talking to him," she suggested.

Joanne stood up, leaned over her husband and took his hand.

"Roy? Sweetheart? Can you hear me? Can you wake up now?" she pleaded. Roy weakly squeezed her hand, and with a tiny grunt, he opened his eyes.

"Joanne?" he said hoarsely.

"Yes, honey, it's me. I think you'll be okay now."

The nurse picked up the room phone and asked for Dr. Brackett to come up. Roy started becoming a little more awake and aware.

"What happened? Why am I here?"

Joanne looked at the nurse again, not sure what she should tell him.

"Dr. Brackett will be here soon, Mr. DeSoto. He'll answer your questions."

Roy looked over at the other bed.

"Johnny's here too? Is he okay?" Roy was becoming a bit agitated.

"He's going to be fine, honey. I'll go check on him right now." Joanne kissed Roy on the forehead, and then she stepped over to Johnny's bed. She took his hand.

"Johnny? Wake up if you can hear me. It's Joanne. Johnny?"

No response from Johnny. He continued to sleep peacefully. Joanne came back over to Roy's side.

"Sorry, looks like he's not ready to wake up yet."

"What the heck happened? I don't remember a thing." Roy asked, frustrated. At that moment, Brackett and Dixie walked into the room.

"Hello Roy. I guess you've got some questions for me." said Dr. Brackett.

"Yeah, it's the middle of our shift, and all of a sudden I wake up here. What's going on?"

"Do you remember the problem we had here this morning with the nurse that was drugged in the lounge?"

"Uh, yeah…. Yeah, I remember that. "

"Well, looks like you and Johnny were the next targets."

Roy gulped at that news and felt a chill go through him. Joanne squeezed his hand.

"Why?" Roy asked.

"You two were just unlucky enough to drink some tainted coffee at the base station." Brackett explained. "It took effect just as you pulled up to a red light in an intersection."

Just then, Johnny's monitors started beeping faster. Dixie walked over to him, and took his hand.

"Johnny? Can you hear me?" said Dixie. Johnny sighed and opened his eyes.

"Hey, Dixie." He smiled groggily at her, but then realized something was wrong. "What's going on?"

"You and Roy drank some bad coffee, but you're going to be okay now."

"What? Roy?" He called out for him.

"It's okay, Junior. I'm right here." Roy soothed. "I'm okay. Glad you're okay too."

"What the hell happened?" Johnny looked for bandages or splints on himself, but didn't see any.

"The two of you drank coffee that had been spiked with a narcotic," Brackett explained further. "You both passed out while you were stopped at a traffic signal. You were extremely lucky that you didn't have a collision."

"We could have been killed?" Johnny said incredulously.

"Or we could have killed someone else." Roy added angrily. "This little prank is definitely not funny."

"That's why the police are investigating. So far it looks like this maniac is after Emergency personnel, since the two tainted coffee pots were both located in the Emergency department. They're checking all the coffee stations in the hospital to make sure. They're also trying to track down where the drugs may have come from. All our drugs in Emergency have been accounted for."

"Doc, how long are Roy and I gonna have to stay here?" Johnny asked.

"I'd like to keep you both here overnight for observation. You might have some side effects."

"Like what?" Roy asked, a little anxious.

"Respiratory depression is the most severe side effect. However, you're past that danger now. You could also experience dizziness, confusion, nausea, constipation, or problems urinating. We already know about drowsiness."

"Well I can vouch for confusion." Roy said. "I sure don't understand why anyone would do something like this."

"Me either, Roy. I'm just glad you two are okay and still here to talk about it." Brackett smiled, and then turned to leave. "I'll be checking in on you in the morning. Get a good night's rest." He left.

The four of them just sat quietly for a few moments as all the information of the day sank in. Finally, Dixie spoke.

"Well, I really hate that this happened to you both. You don't deserve this. I hope they find this jerk and give him what he has coming to him," Dixie said, frustrated. She stood up. "I'll check in on you later." She left quickly, afraid that she wouldn't be able to hold back tears.

Joanne was not able to hold hers back anymore, and burst into tears.

"Aw, don't cry honey. I'm okay now." Roy said, soothingly. "Come on up here and sit with me."

Joanne climbed onto the bed with Roy and hugged him tight. He held her and rocked a little, rubbing her back. "I'm okay. Everything's gonna be fine. Johnny's okay too."

"I was so scared…" she sobbed.

"I know." Roy said softly. He looked over at Johnny, who was watching sadly.

Into this scene, walked Craig Brice and Bob Bellingham. They went over to Johnny, since Roy and his wife were having an intimate moment.

"Glad to see you two awake. " Brice said. Johnny smiled at both him and Bob.

"Hey guys. Were you the ones who brought us in?" Johnny asked.

"Yep. Was the darnedest thing I've seen in a while, too," Bob said. "Just stopped dead in your tracks, right there at a traffic signal."

"Hi guys," Roy said. "Thanks for helping us out."

"You're quite welcome, Roy." Brice acknowledged. "You were very lucky. If your foot had slipped off the brake any earlier, it could have been much worse."

"Any earlier?" Roy asked, surprised at more mysterious information. "What do you mean?"

"Well, the squad rolled a bit when we were getting you out," Bob replied. "I mean, you were just stopped at the light. Squad was in Drive. If your foot had come off the brake pedal before we got there, you would have drifted forward, and eventually crashed into something."

"Wow." Johnny said. "Guess that old lead foot really saved the day for us, partner." Johnny said, trying to lighten the moment. Roy wasn't amused.

"You know, I'd really like to get my hands on the nut who did this to us." Roy said, getting fired up, but at the same time still holding Joanne gently and stroking her back. "How dare he do this to us? To my family." He gave Joanne a squeeze.

"Actually, it could be a female. Poison is often a woman's weapon," Brice said bluntly.

"Whatever, I just want this person caught and put away." Roy's anger was escalating. Bob took that as a cue to leave.

"Well, glad that you guys are okay now. We just wanted to check on you." Bob said as he tugged at Brice's sleeve. "Let's go, Brice."

"Good night, fellas." Brice waved, and Bob yanked him out of the room.

The next morning, Brackett gave both Roy and Johnny the clearance to go home, but not back to work for another 24 hours. The men were getting dressed to leave, when Detectives Hernandez and Wilcox walked into the room.

"There you are," Johnny said. "We were wondering if you guys were going to come around to talk to us before we left."

"Mr. Gage, Mr. DeSoto, I'm Detective Alan Hernandez, and this is my partner, Detective Dennis Wilcox." Both detectives came up to Roy and Johnny and shook their hands.

"So, have you found out anything about the person who did this?" Johnny asked.

"We did a thorough check on the coffee supply company, and we didn't find any evidence or motives from the employees there," Hernandez told them. "So we're pretty sure it was someone who either works here at Rampart, or who came into the Emergency department. Since the lounge and base station are not areas where patients or non-employees hang out, we tend to think that it's a hospital employee or former employee."

"We're still interviewing staff, but so far we have no leads." Wilcox reported. "Can you fellas tell us what you remember about that morning?"

"Well, not much." Roy said. "We came in on a run, then after we were done with the patient, we walked up to the base station, saw the two of you and the sheriff talking to Dr. Morton and Dixie McCall. We waited until you walked away, then we walked up, talked to Dixie and Morton a little bit, Johnny poured us a couple of cups of coffee, we stood there drinking it, and then we left." Johnny nodded as Roy recounted their actions. "Then we got in the squad to drive back to the fire station. That's all I remember."

"Yeah, that's pretty much it." Johnny agreed.

"Did you see anyone unusual hanging around the base station when you first came in with the patient?" Wilcox asked.

"No, we were pretty focused on the patient and getting her into the treatment room," said Johnny.

"Do you know of any hospital employees or former employees who might have a grudge against Emergency personnel?"

Roy and Johnny looked at each other and shrugged.

"No, I can't think of anyone." Johnny said.

"Sorry. Really wish we could help you more," Roy said.

"Okay, gentlemen. If you think of anything, anything at all, just give us a call." Hernandez handed a business card to Roy, and then one to Johnny.

"Same goes for you. If you find out anything, please let us know." Roy said. "You can find us at Station 51."

"Sure thing guys. We're sorry this happened to you. Take it easy, now." Wilcox said, nodding to his partner. The two detectives left.

Roy and Johnny looked at each other with skeptical expressions.

"I have a feeling that that was the end of it," Johnny said, reluctantly.

"I hate to agree, but I think you may be right." Roy said.

CHALLENGE: _Anyone want to continue this story? I'm not into writing detective stories. I'm leaving this one unsolved, but any of you are welcome to take a crack at it._


End file.
